Lips Of An Angle
by Libratine
Summary: One-shot. Booth lies awake in his bed wondering what could have been, when his phone ringes..


**Lips Of An Angel**

**AN: I couldn't sleep last night and for some reason I had this song on repeat in my head. And then I hit me: It would make a great fanfiction - so here it is my very first Bones fanfic. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything…**

**...**

_Honey why you calling me so late?  
It's kinda hard to talk right now.  
Honey why are you crying? Is everything okay?  
I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud_

Well, my girl's in the next room  
Sometimes I wish she was you  
I guess we never really moved on  
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name  
It sounds so sweet  
Coming from the lips of an angel  
Hearing those words it makes me weak

_And I never wanna say goodbye  
But girl you make it hard to be faithful  
With the lips of an angel_

'_Lips Of An Angel' – Hinder_

**..**

**..**

"Booth?" A tentative voice asks from the other end of the line.

"…" He takes a moment to compose himself. Can it really be?

"Booth?" The female repeats questioningly.

"Temperance?" He breathes, not fully believing his ears.

A silence meets him.

Finally, she whispers "Hi…"

Dumfound he simply repeats her greeting. "Hi…"

"How are you?"

He is surprised at the familiarity of the situation, as if the last he has spoken to her hasn't been in the airport three years ago when she was on her way back to Indonesia. As if she hasn't fled from the country and the Jeffersonian, permanently, because he proposed to Hannah.

Before he has a chance to reply, she nervously continues, "I hope I didn't wake you, but the time zones are…"

He interrupts her, "No, I was up anyway".

"What about Hannah?" Her question is legit and gently posed, but he can hear the sadness in her tone.

"She is sleeping", he says. "What about him?"

Even though they haven't spoken, he still knows what goes on in her life. He has been monitoring her with no bigger difficulties. The dig on the Maluku Islands was a great success and she has therefore been mentioned in various articles and papers. Also she published a new book a little less than a year ago so it was hard to miss her on the different talk shows, especially because the book became a national bestseller which only prolonged her public appearances. So he knows about her boyfriend.

If she is surprised by his knowledge, he can't hear it in her voice.

"Also sleeping", she replies.

A few moments pass in completely silence, and he can hear nothing but the clocks ticking and Hannah's deep breathing. Finally the waiting because too much and he asks the question he has been dying to know the answer to ever since he answered his phone.

"Why did you call me?" His tone is neither hostile nor accusing merely curious as to why she would want to talk to him after everything he put her through.

"He asked me to marry him."

"Oh", his respond isn't eloquent but it sufficiently covers what he is feeling. Shock.

"And I said yes."

"You what?" He hisses into the phone. Hannah stirs and he silently gets up and moves out of the bedroom to the kitchen.

"I said yes"

"I heard you", he grumbles.

"Then why did you ask?" She questions him, clearly confused at his words.

He is about to launch into a lecture on his reaction to her words, when he bits it back. He has no right whatsoever to be angry or even hurt that she is getting married. He is after all.

A beat then he asks, "Do you love him?"

"As a friend, yes"

"And romantically?" He inquires softly, though it really is none of his business.

"He makes me laugh, he is a skilled and intelligent conversationalist, he is loyal and thrust worthy... He is a good man", she concludes with a small sigh.

He knows he shouldn't feel happy that she a avoiding a direct answer, but he does. "So what happened?"

"He asked. I accepted. We engaged in sexual intercourse. He fell I sleep, and I snuck out to call you."

He cringes slightly when she mentions sex. "Not literally", he says with a small smile recalling how it used to be, before turning somber. "I mean, what made you call me?"

"I don't know," and he can hear the honesty in her words.

"You always know," he retorts teasingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Not always", she whispers brokenly, and the regret and anguish in her statement is obvious.

Another heavy silence falls between them.

"I guess I just needed to hear your voice", she confesses in a small voice. He is floored by her admission and doesn't know how to respond to it, and when he doesn't she seems to take it as a sign to continue so she does.

"I just wanted to know that it was real. Us, I mean. That our partnership existed and that it wasn't just something I had made up. Does that make any sense?" she asks, obviously surprised at her own irrationality, because of course it existed otherwise she wouldn't be able to call him… but he understand what she means. God knows he understands, because how often hasn't he felt the same need for reassurance.

Time heals all wounds, they say, and he thinks they're right at least partially. The pain dulls and you learn to get be and you learn to forget. And he realizes not for the first time that he has forgotten to some extent, because what they had feels like a lifetime ago. When he would still eat at the diner, when pies were still a seduction technique and when 'squints' was still a bit of his vocabulary.

But life goes on, and now he is married to Hannah. But sometimes, sometimes, he wonders what could have been. Like when Parker scores an A in science, or when he looks through the channels and end up watching a program about dolphins. But mostly he fantasies of _what if _and _if only'_s when he lies awake at night unable to sleep – like tonight.

"It does… And it was real". It has to be, because it was the best time of his life.

Another beat, then he asks her.

"Why did you say yes?"

Because he is baffled by her acceptance, and he honestly wants to know what made her change her mind about marriage. After all their conversations he never thought she would accept a proposal.

"I don't want to be alone", her admission is childlike in its simplicity and it breaks his heart.

_Crushed,_ he thinks_, the heart is a muscle and cannot break_.

He wants to argue that she doesn't need anyone. She is Temperance Brennan, a modern woman who doesn't need marriage to survive. But it would be against all he has ever tried to tell her, and the truth is he understands. He doesn't want to be old and alone either.

"I understand".

He can hear her sigh in something resembling relief on the other end, and he instantly knows that she has wanted his understanding for marrying out of companionship rather than everlasting love. And he really does understand.

"So…" she offers, "how are you and Hannah? Do you have any children?" He shouldn't be surprised by her question, but three years apart has made him forget how blunt she can be at times.

He exhales deeply. "No, she doesn't want any".

"Oh", this time it is her who delivers the simple sound. "But I though you wanted more", she says almost making it sound like a question. And he can hear the clear confusion in her voice, because she knew more than anyone how he wanted a little brother or sister for Parker.

"I did… I do", he admits. "But Hannah is right. It's not that she doesn't want any ever, but right now she still travels a lot, and she doesn't want to give up her job to have kids, and she doesn't want to be a mother who barely sees her kid because she is always working", he says in his wife's defense.

"That is very perceptive of her."

He nods in agreement, though she can't see it, because she is right. It is very perceptive and realistic of Hannah. And from an outside look it is also the right thing to do when she is feeling that way about things. But from the inside – from the inside he can't help but imagine a little girl running around with bright blue eyes and brown hair.

"What about you?" he questions, because he knows that he is not the only one who has been wanting kids.

"We are going to try after the wedding. He is rather traditional, and I think he wants us to be married before I become pregnant."

"Think?" He asks, because _think_ implies that she doesn't know, and he thinks that this is something you'd want to know.

"We don't discuss these things… Not like we did", she adds almost nostalgic.

And he can't help but smile, because that means some part of her is still his. Well theirs to be fair. Because he doesn't talk about these things with Hannah either. They don't engage in long arguments about love or marriage, religion versus science, right and wrong, and he knows that that part of him will always belong to her and that makes him smile.

"Booth, I…"

But whatever she is about to say must wait, because Hannah interrupts poking her head out of the bedroom. "Is everything okay, Seely?" She asks sleepily, obviously just awaken.

And he almost bits his tongue to avoid cursing at her interference. "Yeah, everything is fine Hannah", he whispers softly. "Go back to bed. I'll be there in just a second". For once she doesn't ask anything questions and simply does as he says and for that he is grateful.

When he once again focuses on the phone conversation, he immediately knows that the mood has changed.

"I shouldn't have called you so late", she says apologizing and he can hear the anguish and regret in her voice and instinctively knows she is about to hang up.

"Bones!" she stops, and he doesn't know whether it is because it's the first time he calls her that or if she can hear his utter desperation.

There are so many things left unsaid between them, and he doesn't know where to start or how to explain. Instead he says the one thing he does know. The one thing of which he is absolutely certain.

"I want you to be happy."

"I want you to be happy too, Booth". Her voice is a low whisper nothing more than a breath and she immediately hangs up, leaving him with nothing but a dull tone in his ear.

He sits and stares at the phone, wondering if the conversation really took place - if he really did just talk to Bones. He wonders where it all went wrong, and how come they ended up like this when he was once so sure that they would spend forever together. But their fears of rejection, of ended friendship and hurt pride came between them, and the irony is not missed on him. Because now they don't even talk, and Bones – the same one who proclaimed she couldn't be enough for him – is now getting married and ready to have a family which was all he ever wanted from her. Hell, he didn't even need marriage, just her love and commitment. All the while he is married to a woman, who is married to her job. Ironic indeed.

..

..

**AN: So if you made it all the way here, please press the little button and leave a review that would be great. **

**And if you are a romantic soul and now feel a little down, you can always pretend that he:**

**a. The fluffy: Got a divorce, found Bones and when the priest said "does anyone have any objections" he opened the door to the church and professed his everlasting love for her. **

**b: The drama: He would call her again, they would met, he would confess his love, she'd get angry, they'd fight, they'd have sex, they'd be cheaters, more fighting, more drama, until the inevitable get together. **

**c. The long one: Somebody would be in an almost fatal accident (like Cam or Angela), they met at the hospital, they'd talk, they'd reestablish their friendship, their partnership and slowly they'd fall in love all over again and live happily ever after. **

**But for me this felt like a good ending, so hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
